- There are over 350 different species of sharks worldwide. (learn more at Killer Sharks …)
- Sharks have been around for over 400 million years (200 million years before the first dinosaurs).
- Some sharks are hatched out of eggs, although most are born alive. Tiger Sharks may have up to 80 pups at one time.
- The liver of a basking shark can weigh over 1,800 pounds and contain 600 gallons of oil.
- The largest fish ever caught with a rod and reel was a great white shark that weighed 2,664 pounds and was almost 17 feet long.
- The smallest shark known is the dwarf shark, less than 8 inches long.
- Before the invention of sandpaper, some people used the rough skin of sharks to smooth and polish wood.
- Unlike most fish, sharks do not have swim bladders to help them stay afloat. They must constantly swim in a slightly upward direction to keep from sinking.
- Sharks have excellent hearing. Some sharks can hear prey in the water from 3,000 feet away.
- Almost two-thirds of a shark’s brain is devoted to the sense of smell.
- If a shark looses a tooth, there are many new teeth in the jaw to take the place of the one lost. Sometimes it may take as few as 24 hours for a lost tooth to be replaced.
- Scientists believe that there were once sharks that were three times bigger than the great white sharks are today.
- The giant Carcharodon megalodon had jaws large enough to swallow a small car.
- Mako sharks are the fastest of all sharks. They can swim at speeds of over 30 miles per hour.
- There are about 20 species of sharks that actually glow in the dark. This may be to locate each other or to make themselves less visible to predators beneath them.
- A basking shark’s stomach can contain up to 1,000 pounds of plankton at one time.
